


It's just getting Later

by SorrowSeye



Category: Marvel, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Character Death, Family, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25272523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorrowSeye/pseuds/SorrowSeye
Summary: After a stressful night, Miles and Peter discuss the people they can't save.
Relationships: Miles Morales & Peter B. Parker
Kudos: 35





	It's just getting Later

The car hung like a still body, dead weight.

It teetered, slowly, dangerously, and somewhat, inexplicably, calmly. 

Miles, on the other hand, was panicked. He felt every creak of his bones as his muscles were stretched thin by the task of being the only thing between a bridge, a car, and stormy waters. He was hyper-aware of every thread in the webs he'd sent out, of the sweat trailing down his exposed forehead, and of the child, terrified, in the automobile below.

Julie put on the mask- his mask- and began her climb through the seats, to him. He felt like his arms were going to snap off, but he couldn't let that happen, for the sake of the girl.

Miles let go.

Of course he did, it was a car, he was a kid- and yeah, he had superpowers, but he was small, and his muscles were lean; for running, not carrying.

His reflexes were fast, though. He shot out a strand of webs- they were more durable than him, Aunt May made sure of that- and caught the car before it fell beyond saving, so that it jumped a bit, bounced, and continued its pendulum swing.

"Julie! Come on, it's okay, these things are strong! They're from the first Spider-Man!"

She didn't move.

"You're a fan, right? I was a fan too! And now I'm like he was!" he shouted, maybe saying too much, but unable to gather his thoughts enough to shorten his words, "Anyone can be Spider-Man, Julie! Right now, I need you to be Spider-Man- be brave- and climb up!"

She let out a noise like a gasp or a cry, but finally listened, testing each foot-hold, until she reached the webbing between Miles and the car, and grabbed his hand.

Miles let out a long sigh, double-tapping his bracelet to release the car and instead focus his energy on pulling Julie into his arms, then swinging up onto the railing of the bridge.

"Jules! Julie!" her dad reached for her frantically, and Miles gladly handed her over, his body thanking him for the release of weight. Her dad's hands were still shaking like mad as he pulled the mask off of her, and he planted hundreds of kisses onto her forehead, rocking her back and forth in his arms.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." her dad breathed. Miles wanted to go home and hug his parents in that moment, but there were more pressing matters.

"No problem. Quick favor though-" Miles pointed to his mask, "secret identity."

"Oh! Of course." he nodded and passed it forward, so that Miles could put it back on. Miles looked up to the path of destruction in the distance, preparing himself to leap after the lizard.

"Hey," the dad speaking up again stopped him in his tracks, "the other Spider-Man would have been proud of you. Really."

Miles paused, caught off guard,

"Thanks."

***

Miles had known George Stacy in many ways, but he hadn't really _known_ George Stacy.

His dad said he was good to work with.

Noir said he was responsible.

Peter said he was brave.

Gwen said he was overbearing.

Apparently, Gwen didn't exist in Miles' universe. Or if she did, she wasn't the daughter of George Stacy.

_"He's sort of uptight, huh?" Miles had asked his dad, rewatching the clip of Stacy yelling at him- Spider-Man- as he fled the scene of a stopped crime. His dad looked at him funny._

_"Neither of us like that this Spider-Man is only a kid." he had said, and Miles wanted to protest, but it was (apparently) obvious to everyone that the new mask-bearer was much younger than the previous._

_"But we disagree on why." he sat down at the table across from him, and Miles shut off his phone, placing it face-down on the table._

_"I'm worried for Spider-Man, but George just sees him as irresponsible, and reckless. He never wanted kids. They're a nuisance to him." he said solemnly. As insistent as he was about children needing to learn accountability, he also valued family more than anything._

_"He doesn't have any kids?" Miles echoed, balancing shock and understanding._

_"No." his dad confirmed, then broke into a wry smile, "but yes, I guess he's sort of uptight."_

Turns out, every single notion was right.

When he wasn't chasing Miles down, he was one of the best cops on the job (aside from his dad, of course). Otherwise, he was overbearing- but some of the best people were. Behind all that snappiness, he cared. He was just doing his work- being responsible. No matter what though, above all else;

As he lied there on the roof of the building, against the side of the tower, he was the bravest man Miles knew.

"You're Miles." his eyes went wide in recognition, pushing past the pain that left him groggy.

"Yeah. You gotta stay with me, okay, Captain?" Miles said weakly.

"You know what?" Stacy rasped, "If anyone had to step up, I'm not surprised it was Jefferson's boy."

"Help is on the way." Miles insisted, not sure on how to respond to Stacy's words.

"Your dad loves you so much. He talks about you all the time. He'd be so proud of you." his sentences were choppy, and he winced at every breath. This was the second bit of praise Miles had received in one night, but it didn't make his chest swell with pride like it would on any other day. It felt hollow, meaningless.

"You know, Helen always wanted children. I was just starting to agree."

"Yeah, well, you can get busy after you recover."

Could he web up his wound? Would that help?

Stacy shook his head.

"I was wrong about you, Miles. You more than deserve to be Spider-Man." he reached a hand up to rest on Miles' shoulder, and Miles stiffened, as if any shift would jostle Stacy enough to kill him.

"You're going to do great things."

"Captain?"

***

When Miles came home, he was showered with hugs and questions and scoldings, because his parents had heard of the lizard mutant that had run about the city causing havoc mere hours before. He leaned into their harsh warmth, but they had rushed in the act sending him to bed, thinking that being tucked in would bring him comfort.

He was exhausted, but he wasn't tired.

Miles grabbed his phone, fluffed up his pillows to fake a sleeping shape on his bed, and jumped out the window. He swung across New York, into a less populated area, where the rare fields stretched along the properties of richer folk, only to be mostly unused. He ended up in a car junkyard, the unofficial kind that was only used by the locals, and scaled a small pile to rest on the rooftop, underneath a vast sea of stars.

Nobody will care to look for Spider-Man here.

He has his music turned up; Sunflower. In the most wild storms, it's a song that has helped calm him down. He hugs his knees, and lets the melody wash over him, unwilling to hum along and risk breaking the immersion.

A light shines above him. An unnatural light, blue and red. Miles stares at the reflection on the hood of the car beneath him, brows furrowed, eyes wide.

His eyes snap up.

The only person who might consider finding Spider-Man outside a city would be Spider-Man himself. Miles' chest tightens at the sight of Peter B. above him, blotting out the sky.

"I'm just saying!" Peter calls back to someone Miles can't see, wrapping up a conversation. Miles winces at the noise, burying his nose back into his knees. Peter turns back to him.

"Hey, you ready for-"

He cuts himself short. Miles glares at him, not lifting his head. Peter clicks his tongue awkwardly, then returns his attention to his earlier conversation partner.

"Hey, Peni, could you hold off on warping the others? Give me, like, fifteen minutes- actually, you know what, I'll call you."

"Is something wrong?" Peni asks, tone small and concerned. There's a wordless answer from Peter, and then she starts;

"Maybe-" and she stops, sighs, and settles with, "okay."

"Okay!" Peter grimaces, then drops onto the car roof next to Miles. The car tower lurches, and Miles snatches his phone up before it can skid off the edge. His stomach does a flip when it almost dives, and not just because his parents would never buy him a new one if this one broke. He pulls his lips into a tight line, similarly stretching his legs out, and he watches the dark screen gripped tightly in his hands.

Peter hasn't noticed Miles' momentary panic, and is making himself comfortable next to him. The portal closes.

"So," he starts, and Miles is somewhat comforted by the fact that Peter is the one floundering here, "what's up, kiddo? You- uh- look kinda like a kicked puppy."

Miles doesn't answer, pondering the accusation.

"Oh- sorry- did you need to be alone? I probably should have asked." Peter wonders, and Miles smiles in dry amusement.

"Nah. Just thinking."

"Can I stay here for now then? Or call the others over?" Peter continues, uncertain. Miles cringes at the mere thought.

"Don't. Call the others," he says, "but you can stay. If you chill out a bit."

Peter makes an 'ah' sound and nods his head in acknowledgment. He slants back on his hands and gazes up, and the music overtakes the scene again. The moment doesn't last long, though.

"Are _you_ chill?"

"Honestly? Could be chiller."

Peter opens his mouth to speak, but thinks better of it and shuts it again with a clack of his teeth. It's up to Miles to talk them out of this stupor. That's good. He's in control.

The song ends, and it repeats.

"Have you ever not been able to save someone?" his mind flicks over tens-to-hundreds of citizens that were nearly nipped by death. He thinks of Julie, almost lost to the water. He thinks of Captain Stacy, beside the tower. He thinks of Peter Parker, crushed right in front of him. He thinks of Uncle Aaron.

" _What happened?_ " Peter is alert again, voice too-sharp, leaning forward and tilting the car stack- then he corrects himself, making his voice softer, "Sorry. What happened?"

"I was um- well, long story short, the Lizard killed Captain Stacy."

Peter is frozen, dumbfounded. Of course he is; you can't just come out and say someone died without a preamble. Miles, however, likes to cut to the chase. Spoken word never came to him as easily as visuals or rhythm, but he couldn't exactly show Peter the corpse.

"Well shit," is Peter's choice of eloquent break in the silence, "that. I mean, that really sucks. Do you know- if Gwen...?"

"Not born, I don't think."

"Weird. I mean, that's horrible. But it's also just so weird." Peter shakes his head in disbelief. Miles wonders what Peter's Gwen is like. If they're all as cool as Spider-Woman, Miles almost feels as though he's missing out.

"No kidding," he says instead of voicing his thoughts, because that would prompt teasing, "Y'know, you're pretty bad at this."

"Believe me, _I know._ " Peter chuckles ruefully, taking the jab in stride. Miles smirks at the defeated look, able to pull back his sulking even if his mind is still a bit of a mess. He puts his phone back on the car and lies down onto the roof, taking in the galaxy above that was shadowed by an interdimensional portal moments earlier. His arms pillow his head. He relaxes momentarily.

There's more worries dancing on his tongue though, and as the quiet drags on, he can't help but say them.

"There was also this little girl. She was hanging off this bridge, and I dropped her," he continues quickly before Peter can make assumptions, "She would have died, too, if I didn't have RIPeter's webshooters."

Miles often wonders if he could be Spider-Man without the suit. He only really gained his confidence when he was wearing it, so if he had nothing to fall back on, would he have faltered at the bridge anyways?

"She didn't die though?" Peter asks.

"I mean-" Peter doesn't get it, but he would probably get it if Miles outright said it, "no?"

"Well, there ya go. Any small victory is a victory," Peter states with a learned confidence that surprises Miles, "If you keep holding onto the almosts, you're gonna want to quit way earlier than you should."

 _Way earlier than you should._ Hm. 

"I guess you're right." Miles admits. Letting go is difficult, but not much good had come out of dwelling on things thus far. Leap of faith, and all that.

"That's a small victory right there." Peter grins, twisting to look down on him. Miles groans and rolls his eyes.

"Wow, man, that's embarrassing."

"Practicing for fatherhood!" Peter says proudly. Miles shoots back up into sitting, nearly clonking Peter on the head.

"Oh hey, congrats dude!" he punches Peter lightly on the shoulder, "Not scared of kids anymore?"

"I wasn't _scared of kids_." Peter says indignantly, rubbing his shoulder. Miles wants to remind him that an alternate version of him (Ham) is very scared of kids, and he wouldn't doubt there being a similarity between the two there. This thought makes him snicker, though, and it feels like such a relief that it breaks into full blown laughter. Peter doesn't join in, huffing, but there's a glint of satisfaction in his gaze.

As Miles wipes his eyes from tears(and okay, maybe that was part of the relief, too), Peter seems to hesitate on something. Miles looks at him expectantly, to find a sort of grimness there.

"Look, Miles, the answer is yes. There were a lot of times I couldn't save someone," Miles had dropped the question, not expecting Peter to answer, but; "this job- it gets complicated. You have to give up a lot of things. You lose a lot of people."

Miles' smile falls completely. He _knows_ he's going to lose things. He's already lost too much.

"I don't want to lose people."

"So what're you going to do?" Peter prompts. Miles tilts his head, studies the older Spider's expression for the answer to this riddle. He finds none.

"I guess. Keep doing what I always do? Protect them?" he offers.

"Why is that a question?" Peter demands judgmentally, "have some confidence."

"I'll protect my family and friends." Miles declares in a mockingly deep voice.

"There you go." Peter punches him back for earlier, and Miles mimics the rubbing of the sore spot. He takes a deep breath, and circles back,

"But what if I can't?" to his mistakes. What's the secret when you fall short? 

Peter hunches his shoulders, then releases them sharply, scanning his own hands with a sort of regret. Then he lifts his posture and very pointedly locks eyes with Miles.

"Truthfully; move on," he orders, somehow dead serious, "Even if someone dies, even if it's your fault- which it usually won't be, by the way- it's in the past. You gotta keep going forward."

It's not exactly new advice, but sometimes, Miles just needs a reminder.

"Spider-Man always gets back up."

Peter nods.

"No matter what. We all have faith in you, Miles. What happened today, it wasn't your fault. You just need to keep trying your best. That's it. We're already so proud of you."

The last few seconds of the song plays, a mute melody, a second of stillness, and then it starts to repeat; but Miles pauses it.

"B?" Miles asks.

"What's up?" Peter shoots back. Miles thinks over his words.

"Maybe you _won't_ be a bad dad."

"Success!" Peter pumps his fist, and Miles honestly never knows if those moments of animated movements are exaggerated or if they're his genuine reactions to the situation.

"Seriously though, thanks." Miles reiterates. Peter lowers his fist and puts his weight back on his hands, returning the smile.

"No problem, bud."

In this silence- in this real silence- Miles can hear the rustle of the wind through the grass, and the chirping of hundreds of crickets, and the occasional screech of a bird. There's a soft breeze. Miles will never want to live outside a city- the streets are in his blood- but there's this calmness, seclusion, out here. Everyone needs Spider-Man, but Spider-Man can still be Spider-Man with some time to himself.

There _are_ a few people he wants to see, though.

"You can call the other Spiders now, by the way."

**Author's Note:**

> Very loosely inspired by "Go Tonight" from the musical "The Mad Ones" (it broke my heart, I couldn't not write something for it). Extreme disregard for canon what with the George-never-had-kids thing, but it's my house and I do what I want! Side note, I find my summaries are never quite accurate, huh?
> 
> Critique (especially pertaining to pacing or characterization) is always welcome!


End file.
